Wasn’t he? Heroes saved the world from villains, from evil. I don’t want to delve into too much detail and spoil the story but I had moments where I just stopped and absorbed the questions that were being raised by Schwab concerning what makes a hero/villain, and who decides?

Along with this, religion was another pivotal theme, how it influences both the deeply devout and those who have no religious beliefs. As the series is titled ‘Villains’ maybe I should have expected this, but I was not prepared for the depth to which the book explores this age old question. The major theme that Schwab explored, and that I kept coming back and questioning, was what makes a hero and a villain. Personally, I find this a thin line to walk in books – between creating characters that are just plain dislikable, and characters that you know you should dislike … but you just can’t. Specifically for Vicious, Schwab has managed to create exceptionally morally grey characters that as a reader you still cannot fully dislike. Coming off the back of reading a very plot-driven novel I greatly appreciated the depth and intricate character building that drives the novel. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed myself whilst reading Vicious, and I found myself appreciating the themes explored by Schwab as the story progressed. We want to believe.” Vicious by V.E Schwab “Well, when you wonder something’, said Eli, ‘doesn’t that mean that part of you wants to believe in it? I think we want to prove things, in life, more than we want to disprove them. Just finished Vicious, and let me tell you I LOVED this book.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab